Whipsaw Opens .edu Track in Spring 2026 Accelerator to Support Student Builders

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Whipsaw, the award-winning product design and engineering firm, today announced a new .edu Founder Track within The Workshop, its hardware startup accelerator. One spot in the Spring 2026 cohort will be reserved exclusively for teams or individuals with a .edu email address, including undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, postdocs, and recent alumni.

The dedicated .edu track is designed to support the significant wave of physical innovation emerging from university engineering programs, research labs, and maker communities. The Workshop provides these founders with direct, hands-on access to Whipsaw's senior industrial designers, mechanical engineers, prototyping teams, and product strategists, resources that student and academic teams often lack as they move from research to real-world product development.

"Universities are where many frontier technologies begin, but student and research founders rarely get the design and engineering support required to turn these early concepts into manufacturable products," said Dan Harden, CEO and Founder of Whipsaw. "By opening a dedicated .edu track, we're creating a bridge from lab bench to market readiness. If a student team has a bold idea and the ambition to build it, we want to help them go fast."

The Workshop's 10-week program guides founders through product definition, architecture, rapid prototyping, user testing, manufacturability, and investor storytelling. Each cohort concludes with a Hardware Demo Day attended by hardware-focused angels, seed funds, and corporate innovation leaders.

"Student teams often have extraordinary creativity and technical depth, but they need partners who can help them build for real-world constraints," said Anne Van Itallie, VP of Client Relations & Growth at Whipsaw. "We've seen again and again that pairing academic innovation with professional design and engineering dramatically accelerates product readiness. This new track unlocks that potential."

Who the .edu Track Is For

The dedicated spot is open to founders currently affiliated with universities, including:

• Undergraduates
• Graduate students (MS, PhD)
• Postdoctoral researchers
• University research teams
• Recent alumni with a .edu address

Relevant disciplines include robotics, wearables, medical devices, consumer hardware, sustainability, industrial systems, and other physical-product categories.

Benefits for .edu Founders

Accepted teams receive full access to The Workshop's accelerator programming, including:

• Hands-on design, engineering, and prototyping support
• Product architecture and manufacturability guidance
• Access to Whipsaw's model shop and engineering resources
• UX, UI, and brand foundation development
• Fundraising and pitch coaching
• Participation in Hardware Demo Day
• Introductions to hardware-focused investors and advisors

Application Information

Applications for the Spring 2026 cohort are open from December 12, 2025 through January 19, 2026. University-affiliated applicants are automatically considered for the .edu track upon submission.

More information and the application portal can be found at:

https://www.whipsaw.com/the-workshop-hardware-startup-accelerator

About Whipsaw

Whipsaw is a product design and experience consultancy based in San Francisco. For more than 25 years, Whipsaw has created breakthrough products and experiences for startups and global brands across consumer electronics, medical devices, robotics, industrial systems, and beyond. With more than 350 design awards and a portfolio responsible for billions in revenue, Whipsaw blends creativity, technical depth, and manufacturability to bring bold ideas into the world.

Media Contact:

Anne Van Itallie
VP of Client Relations & Growth, Managing Director - The Workshop
Email: anne@whipsaw.com
Phone: 408-297-9771

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SOURCE Whipsaw, Inc.